UMass QB Brandon Rose Excited, Confident About Team, Season
Minuteman quarterback Brandon Rose prefers to let his play on the field do much of the talking.
Brandon Rose opened up plenty when he met with reporters on Friday, the first time he’s spoken publicly since transferring to UMass.
The California native offered plenty of thoughts on the quarterback competition he recently won, why he chose to come to Amherst from Utah, bouncing back from a tough injury and more.
But when asked how prepared he and his teammates are for this Saturday’s season-opener against Temple, Rose needed just a couple words.
“We're prepared,” Rose said.
Rose acknowledged Mike Bajakian’s decision to come to UMass as offensive coordinator after spending last season as Utah’s offense coordinator played a big role in his own decision to come to Amherst.
“Really what kickstarted it was my offensive coordinator coming here from Utah as well,” Rose said.
“Then, also, when I came up here on my visit, talked with Coach (Joe Harasymiak). I just loved the environment from the whole entire staff up here. It's a great staff. They've got a lot of experience from the defensive side of the ball, the offensive side of the ball, people coming from the NFL.
“It just made me feel like it was the right decision to make.”
Rose and Bajakian’s relationship stretches back even further than their time together in Salt Lake City. When Bajakian was at Northwestern, he began recruiting Rose as a sophomore at Murrieta Valley High School.
“Just the type of coach that he is, the experience that he has,” Rose said of why he has so much faith in Bajakian. “I feel like that relationship has continued to get better and better even coming here in January.”
With his prior experience with Bajakian, Rose feels can be a leader, but said his position requires him to be a leader regardless.
“Just being a quarterback in general, you do have to be a boisterous leader for your guys,” he said. “You have to be a guy that all 10 other guys look to on offense and really the whole team looks to you for answers sometimes. So number one, that's probably one of the most important jobs to be a leader as a quarterback.
“But I would say that we all do that in our own way. I would say that having experience with Coach B, it allows me to play a little bit faster, a little bit looser and play like myself.”
Rose called the competition with Grant Jordan and A.J. Hairston for the Minutemen’s starting job a “great experience.”
“I think they're both great players,” he said. “They both have really bright futures. I'm just thankful that the coaches have enough trust in me to name me to be QB1 and to start Week One versus Temple.”
As much as anything, though, Rose feels fortunate to play the game at all after tearing his Lisfranc during his only start for the Utes last season.
“I just feel blessed that God has put me in this position to even be able to come out here on a daily basis and play football,” he said. “I could be put in a lot worse situations, but I'm very blessed to have a great support system, my family back home, and then also just to be able to play the game I love on a daily basis.”
After sitting out spring practice, Rose has been full-go throughout training camp.
“It feels great,” he said. “I feel great. I haven't had any setbacks or anything like that. I feel like I'm ready to play football.”
He also feels blessed to be surrounded by the pieces he is within the UMass huddle.
“We've got great weapons; nothing that a quarterback wouldn't want out there,” he said. “I've got guys at all the positions, the tight end position, my running backs, wide receivers. You name it, we've got a weapon for it.
“I love that o-line room. I spend a lot of time with them. I think they're hard workers. They're very smart upfront. They're physical. They know exactly what they need to do. Coach Anderson has that room tight, acting as five as one.”
When asked what UMass fans should expect from Rose and the offense, he once again seemed to decide to let his play on the field say more than his words.
“It's going to be a lot of fun. Explosive, that's all I can say right now.”
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